Mallām, donation, time of Kampavarman, year 20 EpiDoc encoding Emmanuel Francis intellectual authorship of edition Emmanuel Francis DHARMA Paris, CEIAS DHARMA_INSPallava00226

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Copyright (c) 2019-2025 by Emmanuel Francis.

 2019-2025 DHARMAbase Donation of land in honour of a man who performed ritual suicide in honour of the Goddess.

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śrī

kampaparumaṟku yāṇṭu Iru-pattt-āvatu

paṭṭai-pōt taṉukku Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatiīn=taṉ paṭṭai-pōttaṉ mē tavam purintat’ eṉṟu bhaṭārikku nava-k-kaṇṭaṅ kuṭuttu kuṉṟaka-t-talai Aṟuttu-p piīṭailikai mēl vaittāṉukku ti ruvāṉmuūr Ūrār vaitta paric-āvatu

Emuūr-p paṟai koṭṭi-k kal-mē ṭu ceytār āvikku-k kuṭuppār āṉār

pōttaṉaṅ kiḻavarkaḷum toṟu -p-paṭṭi nilam kuṭuttārkaḷ

Itu Aṉṟ’ eṉṟār kaṅkai-y-iṭai-k kumari -y-iṭai Ēḻu-nūṟṟu-k kātamum ceytāṉ ceyta pāvattu-p paṭuvār

Aṉṟ’ eṉṟār Aṉṟ’ āḷ-kōvukku kāṟ-p-po ṉ ṟaṇṭap paṭuvār

Fortune!

Twentieth year of Kampavarman.

This is the manner paricāvatu that the village delegates (ūrār) of Tiruvāṉmūr gave vaitta to Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, as is known purintatu eṉṟu the great penance mētavam of Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, in honour of himThat is, Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ who gave the nine parts nava-k-kaṇṭam to Bhaṭāri, cut his head and offered it on the altar.

Those who, beating drums in our village, have done ceytār the stone mound kal-mēṭu have become those who give for his soul.

The landlords of Pōttaṉam are those who gave the land named Toṟuppaṭṭi.

He who says that this is not so will suffer in the sin done by he who does sin within the seven hundred leagues between the Ganges and Kumari.

He who says that this is not so will incur a fine taṇṭam of a quarter poṉ to the then ruling king.

Below the inscription is the figure of a kneeling beheaded man, with a knife in his right hand, holding by the hair his severed head in his left hand.

According to , the donation is made to Paṭṭaipōttaṉ for the pious act of Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, who is probably his father. It is also possible that Paṭṭaipōttaṉ and Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ are the same person, in which case the beneficiary of the land donation (possibly the Goddess Bhaṭāri or the relatives of Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ) would not be explicitly mentioned in the inscription. The plain name Paṭṭaipōttaṉ would have been highlighted at the beginning of the inscription in the dative case.

kuṉṟaka-t-talai. It is difficult to make sense of the first part of this compound, which is unclear on the stone. It might be split into kuṉṟu (from kuṉṟu-tal, “to decrease”) and akam (“place”), qualifying the severed head, in a redundant expression compared to aṟuttu (“having cut”).

piṭalikai (that is, pīṭilikai). This word seems related to Sanskrit pīṭḥa (“seat, pedestal”) and appears to designate the altar for offerings (Sanskrit bali-pīṭha).

kal-mēṭu. Litteraly “mound (mēṭu) (made of) stone (kal).” This is possibly a kind of memorial erected in honour of Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, of which the inscribed stele would be an element.

pōttaṉam. This appears to be a toponym, linked to Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatintaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, as indicated by the last element of his name.

toṟuppaṭṭi. Either a toponym indicating the location of the land given or a phrase making explicit the purpose of the land given: “land (nilam) as (grazing-)place (paṭṭi) for cattle (toṟu).”

Edited in (SII 12.106), with a facsimile; text and summary in (IP 226); encoded and first translated here by Emmanuel Francis (2022), based on previous editions and published facsimiles.

50 106 VI 581 226 20 B/1915 227 217 CXI 89 XVII